The Pedestrian Master Plan is both a near-term and a long-term plan. Many of the tools and information in the plan can be used immediately by public agencies, non-profit organizations, and community members to support walking in Seattle.

The plan also takes an extended view of the actions that must happen to sustain Seattle as a walkable city. Some of these longer-term actions require ongoing partnerships that do not currently exist, may be very costly, or may require additional research to implement. However, it is important to include these types of actions in the plan to ensure that they move forward and are ready to be implemented when the partnerships, funding, or additional information are available.

This section of the plan includes a description of near-term and long-term policy and program recommendations. The Objectives and Strategies provide an overview of the types of changes the plan seeks to make, and the Implementation Matrix includes more detail on each objective and strategy, including proposed milestones and the partners needed to move the action forward.

Objectives and Strategies

An in-depth review of City of Seattle policies and practices related to the pedestrian environment and experience informed development of the plan’s Objectives and Strategies. These were reviewed and refined by the Pedestrian Master Plan Advisory Group (PMPAG) and the Inter-Agency Team (IAT). Each of the following objectives helps to achieve one or more of the plan goals of safety, equity, vibrancy, and health in order to make Seattle the most walkable city in the nation.

Each of the following objectives helps to achieve one or more of the Plan goals of safety, equity, vibrancy, and health in order to make Seattle the most walkable city in the nation. Click on each objective below to learn more about related strategies and actions. To see a full accounting of the implementation actions needed to meet these objectives, click here.

The six objectives and their associated strategies are only the tip of iceberg. To identify all of the actions that are necessary to achieve these objectives and strategies, the Pedestrian Master Plan includes an "Implementation Matrix." This matrix, or table, provides the full list of actions that address the plan's focus on programs and policies that make it easier to walk in Seattle. The Implementation Matrix is available in Appendix Q.

In addition to organizing all of the actions that are needed, the matrix assigns an owner to each action and identifies the partners with whom the owner will need to coordinate. Milestones, or targets, are provided for each action as well; the milestones indicate the date by which portions of the program or policy are to be completed. Those actions identified in the matrix for completion by 2011 are considered near-term actions, and those identified for completion by 2015 or beyond are considered longer-term actions.

The milestones also provide an easy way for SDOT to report on the progress made in implementing the plan, information that will be shared with the public, the Seattle Pedestrian Advisory Board, the Mayor's Office, and City Council each year.